D EXTENDED ESSAY

2005:080
Lule University of Technology
Department of Languages and Culture
ENGLISH D
Supervisor: Ulf Magnusson
2005:080 ISSN: 1402 - 1552 ISRN: LTU - DUPP--05/80 - - SE
Language and Image
A comparative study of advertisements in English and
Swedish magazines for adult women and teenage girls
DOROTA CZERPA
Linguistics in the Midnight Sun Report no 9
Reports from the Department of Languages and Culture no. 10







D EXTENDED ESSAY




Language and Image:
A comparative study of advertisements in English and Swedish
magazines for adult women and teenage girls.



Dorota Czerpa



Department of Languages and Culture
ENGLISH C
Supervisor: Ulf Magnusson






L I M S
___________________________________________________________________________
Li ngui st i c s i n t he Mi dni ght Sun, Repor t no 9
________________________________________________________________
Reports from the Department of Languages and Culture no. 10
2

Table of contents


Page
Introduction

3
CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Background

5
1.2 The visual versus the textual medium in advertising

6
1.3 Selection and categorization of data.

9
1.4 List of examples.

14
CHAPTER TWO

2.1 The textual vs. the visual medium in the Swedish edition of ELLE.

17
2.2 The textual vs. the visual medium in the English edition of ELLE.

22
2.3 Metaphors in the English edition of ELLE.

29
2.4 Metaphors in the Swedish edition of ELLE.

36
2.5 The textual vs. the visual medium in the Swedish edition of Julia.

43
2.6 The textual vs. the visual medium in the English edition of J-14.

48
2.7 Metaphors in the Swedish edition of Julia.

52
2.8 Metaphors in the English edition of
J-14.

57
Final remarks

63
List of references 66












3

Introduction

Metaphor is a linguistic phenomenon, which has been widely studied and analysed. It
constitutes an important part of everyday communication and is ubiquitous in the field of
advertising. Metaphor is one of the most popular means by which an advertiser can
communicate with a reader on the linguistic level. The choice of metaphors for
advertisements for a particular target-group depends on many factors:













1. Aim
The purpose of this paper is to compare metaphors utilised in advertisements in the English
and Swedish editions of magazines for adult women and teenage girls. I will discuss
advertisements from ELLE, as an example of an adult magazine, and advertisements from
Julia and J-14, as examples of teenage magazines. In ELLE I will focus mainly on the
ads of cosmetics - how the product is presented in the textual element and what part the visual
one plays for the reception and interpretation of the overall message of the ad. On the other
hand, as far as the teenage magazines are concerned, I will discuss advertisements of different
kinds: for clothes, cosmetics, accessories, food recipes. Due to the fact that metaphors can be
used in different ways, a variety of ads will be presented (both Swedish and English) to
picture multiple methods of utilising metaphors.

2. Method
My method of analysis will be the one used by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). Factors studied
will be the following: highlighting and hiding, cultural adherence, new meaning,
personification.

Factors necessary for a successful
reception of an advertisement by a
member of a target-group:
Social factor
Religious factor
Historical factor
Political factor
Common interests
Common concerns
4

3. Data
In order to study this complex problem I selected advertisements of cosmetics from the
November issue of ELLE (2005) the Swedish and the English editions, and advertisements
from different categories from Julia and J-14 March (2006) in Swedish and English
respectively.




























5

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background
A great deal of research has been devoted to the study of metaphor - both as a phenomenon in
itself and due to its role in advertising and how it is perceived by a reader/viewer. Lakoff and
Johnson in Metaphors We Live By (1980) give a definition of a metaphor as a statement
and/or picture, which causes a receiver to experience one thing in terms of another. MacInnis,
Moorman and Jaworski in Enhancing and Measuring Consumers, Motivation, Opportunity
and Ability to Process Brand Information from Ads (1991) view metaphor in advertising as a
stimulus of deeper levels of processing because of its interest value and because it stimulates
curiosity about the product or brand. Philips in Thinking Into It: Consumer Interpretation of
Complex Advertising Images (1997) studied the comprehension of metaphors in
advertisements, whose meaning differed from the one intended by the creator. Stern in
Metaphor Without Mainsprings: A Rejoinder to Elgin and Scheffler, Ward and Gaidis in
Metaphor in Promotional Communication: A Review of Research on Metaphor
Comprehension and Quality (1988) studied the effect of metaphor in promotional
communication and dealt with models of metaphor comprehension and quality, which were
grounded in linguistic and psychological research. Scott in Images in Advertising: The Need
for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric (1994) writes about visual rhetoric. McCabe in Conceptual
similarity and the quality of metaphor in isolated sentences versus extended contexts (1983)
made a division of metaphors into concrete and abstract, depending on the degree to which
concepts or a comparison between them can be directly experienced. MacKenzie in
Bibliography and the Sociology of Text (1986) took up again the issue of distinction between
concrete and abstract metaphors; the concrete ones are experienced through the five senses,
and the abstract ones are based on intangible concepts. Kaplan in A Conceptual Analysis of
Form and Content in Visual Metaphors (1992) stated that presenting metaphors in visual form
facilitates recall. Heckler, Houston and Childer in Measurement of Individual Differences in
Visual Versus Verbal Information Processing (1985) categorised unexpected and irrelevant
advertisements as having negative effects on memory outcomes
1
. Stenstrom in Trends in
teenage talk (2002) studied different cases of the use of language by young people.

1
All of the examples of research taken from Tom Reichert Message is in the metaphor: Assessing the
comprehension of metaphors in advertisements, Journal of advertising (Winter 1999), www.findarticles.com.
6
1.2 The visual versus the textual medium in advertising
1.2.1 Characteristics of the visual medium in advertising
The type of culture represented by the womens magazine ELLE and teenage
magazines Julia and J-14 can be characterised as visual culture. As far as
advertisements in the magazines are concerned, a visible pattern prevails - a pictorial
element as a background, filling the whole page, with a small textual component - the
logo of a producer/brand/company and a minimal message (usually the length of a
short sentence) as a reinforcement of the visual element and also of the product itself.
One of the most prominent features of the visual medium is its multilayered and
ambiguous meaning - depending on many factors such as social environment, social
status, country of origin, past experience of the viewer/receiver, she/he will interpret
the visual message in a particular way. Therefore, there are no clear and unambiguous
messages that can be read in the same way all over the world by everyone. The
advertiser solves this problem by utilising such methods as advertising the same
product in a few different ways depending on the country of origin and the
culture/beliefs of the target group.
Elements of the visual medium in an advertisement can be presented in a variety of
ways i.e. a small object can be enlarged to fill the whole page or shrunken; it can be
fragmented or repeated, transformed. (Hariman 1998)
Allegorical coding is ubiquitous in visual media, and womens magazines are a good
example of such ubiquity. In the cosmetic market the use of allegories of beauty,
femininity, fragility, success and happiness is extremely popular. The choice of
allegory in an advertisement of a product is mainly determined by the focus on a
particular target group. In the case of ELLE, its women are in the age bracket of 20 -
30, with a considerable income and high working position, usually without children,
single or in a loose relationship. In order to apply a fitting allegory one must
consider the two key features of this target group - preoccupation with beauty and well
being (use of expensive beauty products, perfume etc.) and careful choice of
fashionable clothing (haute - couture, fashion news, propagation of the most famous
designers by the magazine). The target group for the teenage magazines, like Julia
and J-14 differs greatly from the one of ELLE, therefore the scope of applied
allegories will differ as well. The main differences would be in the approach to the
young reader; the advertiser taking the position of an adviser rather than seller.
7
What is more, the expectations of this target-group vary from the ones of ELLE
readers. The main focus is put on friendship, health, being trendy and being up-to-
date with the media, like cinema and TV.
Cultural transformation. Advertisers choose the visual element on the basis of
common social assumptions/ideas of beauty. Advertisements of cosmetics always
show as a reinforcement a picture of a slim, smooth - skinned woman, whose body and
face show perfect proportion and harmony, because this is how female beauty is
perceived nowadays. The inclusion of common social ideals and aspirations offered by
the mass media codes (beauty, financial success, happiness) into the visual element of
an advertisement is widespread; advertisers assume that such reinforcement will
produce a positive connotation between the product and the idea, with the product as a
means to achieve success represented by the idea
2
.

1.2.2 Characteristics of the textual medium in advertising
Manipulation of the linguistic material. In order to achieve a particular and unique
effect in an ad on the textual level, producers manipulate the textual element. This can
be done on the level of words (transformation of a word formant, word or a phrase),
sentence level (transformation of a well known proverb, idiom), on the orthographic
level (change in spelling), phonetic level (alliteration, rhyming, pronunciation),
morphological level (inventing pseudo - morphemes) and lexical level.
Foregrounding. Harris (1989) in his work Sell! Buy! Semiolinguistic manipulation in
print advertising states that:
Foregrounding is a linguistic process in which some elements, such as
words, phrases, sentences, stressings, intonations, or the like are given
prominence or made more meaningfully significant by the
communicator/language - user, in this case the creator(s) of a print
advertisement.

Encoding - decoding. In order for the message in an advertisement to be
comprehended a reader/receiver must decode a meaning using relevant codes.
Decoding includes several stages - recognition and comprehension (the surface
meaning), interpretation and evaluation. Communication between the addresser and
addressee can be represented by a model: (based on Corner, 1983)
3


2
For more details on the topic of the visual medium see Robert Hariman (1998), Visual Media, Allegorical
Consciousness, and Postmodern Culture (Drake University), www.indiana.edu/~rhetid/hariman.htm
3
For more details on the topic of the textual medium see Alan C. Harris (1989) Sell! Buy! Semiolinguistic
manipulation in print advertising, (California State University), www.csun.edu/~vcspc005/advertis.html
8

Step 1: Encoding Step2: Text Step 3: Decoding
Institutional practices Form and content Reception by reader
Organizational conditions Symbolic construction
Practices of production Arrangement
Performance



The reading of the text. (Daniel Chandler Semiotics for beginners,
Encoding/Decoding, www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem08c.html):

Hall suggested three hypothetical interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a text:
- dominant (or hegemonic) reading: the reader fully shares the texts code and accepts
and reproduces the preferred reading []
- negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the texts code and broadly accepts the preferred reading,
but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and
interests (), this position involves contradictions.
- oppositional (counter - hegemonic) reading: the reader, whose social situation places them in a
directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share
the texts code and rejects this reading []

Interpretation of the text (ibid.):

The interpretation of signs by their users can be seen () as having three levels:
- syntactic: recognition of the sign (in relation to other signs);
- semantic: comprehension of the intended meaning of the sign;
- pragmatic: interpretation of the sign in terms of relevance, agreement etc.



1.3 Selection and categorization of data.

1.3.1 Selection of data from the teenage magazines Julia and J-14.
I have selected advertisements from both magazines that fall into four categories: clothes,
make-up, accessories and food recipes. All of the advertisements consist of a visual and a
textual element. In some cases the picture is the dominant part of the ad; sometimes it
functions only as a background complementation.

As far as the Swedish teenage magazine is concerned, I focused on ads, which are written
wholly in Swedish (except for ads of international brands). The advertisements from
Julia can be divided into several categories:

Category 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element
Category 2) Ads with a dominant textual element
Category 3) Ads where some part of the text is kept in
English
Category 4) Ads where the textual element is wholly in
Swedish
Category 5) Ads where humour is employed
Category 6) Ads of international brands wholly in
Swedish


The advertisements from the English magazine J-14 can be divided into very similar
categories:

Category 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element
Category 2) Ads with a dominant textual element
Category 3) Ads having more than one pictorial element
Category 4) Ads for many different products presented in
a group (for example accessories)
Category 5) Ads where humour is employed
Category 6) Ads for health organizations

10
1.3.2 Selection of data from the magazine for adult women ELLE.

The advertisements from ELLE, as well as from the teenage magazines, can be
categorised in two ways, depending on the factor one focuses on:

The cooperation between the textual and pictorial elements, use of humour and other
linguistic devices or
The cooperation between the metaphor and the rest of the advertisement be it the
pictorial element or the rest of the textual element

If one takes into account the first type of categorization, then the possible categories for
ELLE would be:

The Swedish edition of ELLE: The English edition of ELLE:
Ads with a dominant pictorial element Ads with a dominant pictorial element
Ads with a dominant textual element Ads with a dominant textual element
Ads where a joke or a pun is employed Ads having more than one pictorial element
Ads where some parts of the textual
element are kept in English
Ads where a joke or a pun is employed
Ads with a wholly Swedish textual element Ads having more than English language
(French for French products, as in the
Swedish edition)
Ads of Swedish brands (wholly in Swedish) Ads having only English language
Ads of international brands wholly in the
Swedish language
Ads having a minimal textual message (the
brand name plus approximately three
words)
Ads where the textual element is almost
nonexistent except for the brand name
Ads having a celebrity advertising an
international brand
Ads with more than just English or Swedish
(for example French for French beauty
products or make-up)

Ads where a Swedish celebrity is
advertising an international brand


11
The second type of categorization can be applied to both groups of magazines for the adults
and teenagers. This metaphor-based categorisation relies on the cooperation of the metaphor
with the rest of the ad. Thus the categories can be:

Ads with only a textual metaphor
Ads with only a pictorial metaphor
Ads with metaphors that come into being only when the pictorial and the textual
elements are combined

Both types of categorization take into account processes studied by Lakoff and Johnson
(1980) highlighting and hiding of certain elements by the use of metaphor, creating a new
meaning through a metaphor, personification, cultural adherence (this aspect is very important
when comparing Swedish and English advertisements).

I will also present different methods that advertisers utilise in order to catch the attention of a
reader/viewer (and of course to make her/him buy the product) like the choice of vocabulary,
colours of the pictorial element, choice of similes and personal pronouns, use of foreign
languages (French, English), use of jokes and puns, repetitions, use of cosmic ornament
(enlarging, shrinking of the visual and textual element) and the possible connotations an
advertisement can evoke.

Due to the nature of the magazines (glossy), the communication with a reader takes place
mostly on the visual level many pages are wholly covered with advertisements. Moreover,
articles are usually accompanied with large pictures that sometimes may take even a few
pages. This is why most of the selected advertisements can be called filler ads or visual
ads. The only informative ads in ELLE (with a large textual element including detailed
information about the product) which I found are the ones concerning hair and facial beauty
products. In the case of the teenage magazines the informative ones are the adverts for
accessories and hygiene products. It is interesting to mention that in general the advertisers
avoid longer textual elements in teenage advertisements. The reason for this may be the
nature of the product (which needs to be explained) or the assumption that young consumers
do not have the patience to read long texts in ads. A good example of an informative ad in
ELLE is an advertisement of a hair dye with an accurate description of how to apply the
product and what advantages it gives to the user (shiny and healthy hair etc.). Another
12
example can be an ad for an antiageing face cream, where one gets information about the
approximate time after which wrinkles should disappear, sometimes even in percentage.
Such advertisements possess a high level of informativity because the products they advertise
are used not only for special occasions or to look glamorous but in order to keep ones
skin, hair etc. in good and healthy condition every day. In order to do that one needs more
detailed information about the effects of a product the type of skin or hair it is appropriate
for, the method of application, etc.

On the other hand, the least informative advertisements in ELLE are the advertisements
for perfume since the smell of perfume cannot really be described in words, the advertisers
resort to metaphoric comparisons and similes. What is interesting is the fact that most of the
ads for perfumes tell the reader how SHE/HE will feel or be perceived by others (friends,
lovers, family etc.) when she/he buys and uses the perfume, instead of saying anything about
the smell of the perfume itself. It may be argued that such technique of advertising is quite
risky, since the consumer does not really know what exactly she/he is buying. It is the
ideology behind the product that is talked about in a commercial/ad and that is crucial and
elaborated on by an advertiser in an ad.

Another branch of cosmetics, namely facial products is faced with a different problem all of
the ads of, for example, face creams operate within a limited scope of vocabulary. Therefore,
it is hard to invent an advertisement for a new face cream, that would not resemble in any
way the ads for products of competitors and that would use totally new vocabulary. The same
can be said about the ads for lipsticks or shampoos. The more a product is of everyday use,
the harder it is to present it in a totally new way. Advertisers solve this problem by, for
example, inviting a well-known person (a movie star or a famous model) to star in a
commercial/ad or invent new possible uses for a familiar product to make it look more
attractive and better than the one of competitors. This rule applies to both adult and teenage
magazines.

Lately, there can be noticed a tendency to produce shocking and taboo - breaking
advertisements. Their aim is to catch the attention of a reader/viewer at all cost, to scream
from the page of a magazine louder than the competitors. This tendency for shocking and
taboo - breaking ads can be observed in both the Swedish and the English editions of
ELLE. On the other hand the advertisers in teenage magazines avoid shocking ads;
13
instead there is a tendency for an advising attitude on the part of advertisers. The message is
communicated through different means not shocking the young reader but showing her/him
how to live/behave properly.

There is also one more group of advertisements, which can be called unclear ads. It
includes ads that are ambiguous to the point that a reader cannot tell what exactly is being
advertised. Such difficulty with decoding might take place when a reader has different life
experience or comes from a different culture/part of the world. Every advertisement has a
target group at which it is aimed, but when a reader belongs to an out - group, the message of
the ad may pose difficulties because of its unclear textual message, unclear visual message,
the lack of the name of a producer (or stockholder) or the lack of textual reference to the
product (when a product is advertised only visually or when only the name of the brand is
given without any textual explanation). This problem emerges only in case of ELLE. In
teenage magazines the advertisements are always clear. This can be so due to the
advertisers assumption that the younger the reader of an ad the simpler the language and the
message of it. Any kind of ambiguity is avoided; the message is made in a more
straightforward manner than in the adult magazine and it takes on the air of a good advice.

Advertisements present a great variety and there are many possible ways of categorising
them. Companies constantly search for and invent new methods of selling a product to a
consumer, and those methods must suite the member of the target group, for ELLE readers
a young woman, who has aspirations of being beautiful, exceptional, successful and up to
- date with the latest fashion designs. Or, in the case of the teenage readers of Julia and J-
14 a young girl, for whom friendship, being trendy and having fun are the most important
goals.










14
1.4 List of examples.

1.4.1 The advertisements from the Swedish edition of ELLE

Table 1. The advertisements from the Swedish edition of ELLE

Category I: Ads
with a celebrity
advertising an
international
product, visual
ads
Category II: Ads
with a dominant
textual element,
informative ads
Category III: Ads
in which a pun or a
visual humour is
employed
Category IV: Ads
of genuine Swedish
brands
Ex. 1) Maybelline
New York make-up
products advertised
by Marie Serneholts
- singer
Ex. 1) Scandinavian
Formula hair
products
Ex. 1) Nivea Self
Tan Lotion
Ex. 1) Lumene
mascara
Ex. 2) Max Factor
Flawless
Perfection
foundation
Ex. 2) Armand
Basi perfume for
men
Ex. 2) Olle & Marie
face and hair
styling
Ex. 3) Clinique
cosmetics - facials
Ex. 3) Face
Stockholm make-
up salon
Ex. 4) Clinique
cosmetics - lipsticks

Ex. 5) Estee Lauder
anti-wrinkle eye
cream

Ex. 6) Biotherm
anti-wrinkle face
cream

Ex. 7) Lancome
mascara
LExtreme





1.4.2 The advertisements from the English edition of ELLE

Table 2. The advertisements from the English edition of ELLE

Category I:
Ads of
perfume
the visual
element
dominates
Category II:
Ads with a
dominant
textual
message,
informative
Category III:
Ads where a
word pun or
a
phonological
pun is
Category
IV: Ads
where
visual
humour is
employed
Category
V: Ads
which
talk about
human
fears and
Category
VI: Ads
in which
a
celebrity
advertiser
Category
VII: Ads in
which an
element of
the
supernatur
15
over the
textual one,
visual ads
ads employed imperfecti
ons
solution
ads
s an
internatio
nal
product
al or
fantastical
(imaginary)
world is
used
Ex. 1)
Calvin
Klein
Euphoria
perfume
Ex. 1) Paul
Mitchell
luxury hair
care hair care
products
Ex. 1)
Alexander
McQueen
My Queen
perfume
Ex. 1)
Sunsilk hair
products
Ex. 1)
Weightles
s Volume
hair
mousse
Salon
Solutions
Ex. 1)
Very
Irresistible

Givenchy
perfume
Ex. 1)
Alien
Thierry
Mugler
perfume
Ex. 2)
Michael
Kors
perfume
Ex. 2)
LOreal
Couleur
Experte hair-
dye
Ex. 2) Mist
make-up
Airflash
Dior
Ex. 2)
Head and
Shoulders
shampoo

Ex. 3)
Emporio
Armani
City Glam
perfume
Ex. 3)
Maximum
Length
Mascara
Lash XL
Estee Lauder
Ex. 3) St.
Ives body
lotion





1.4.3 Advertisements from the Swedish magazine Julia

Table 3. Advertisements from the Swedish magazine Julia

Category I:
Ads with a
dominant
pictorial
element
Category
II: Ads with
a dominant
textual
element
Category
III: Ads
where some
part of the
text is kept
in English
Category
IV: Ads
where the
textual
element is
wholly in
Swedish
Category V:
Ads of
international
brands
wholly in
Swedish
Ex. 1)
Wibbles, toy
accessory
Ex. 1) recipe
for food
Dippa och
njut
Ex. 1) o.b.
tampons
Ex. 1) Fin
under,
underwear
ad
Ex. 1) Taft
hair products
Ex 2) Julia
dagbok,
accessory




1.4.4 Advertisements from the English magazine J-14

16
Table 4. Advertisements from the English magazine J-14

Category I:
Ads with a
dominant
pictorial
element
Category
II: Ads
with a
dominant
textual
element
Category
III: Ads
having
more than
one
pictorial
element
Category
IV: Ads for
many
different
products
presented in
a group (for
example
accessories)
Category V:
Ads where
humour is
employed
Category VI:
Ads for
health
organizations
Ex. 1) LOT
29 Juniors,
clothes
Ex. 1) lip
gloss for
your sign,
group ad for
cosmetics
Ex. 1) Lip
Smacker,
lipgloss
Ex. 1) Stuff
we love,
valentines
day, group
ad for
accessories
Ex. 1) above
the
influence.com
organisation
Ex. 1) VERB
organisation
Ex. 2)
ProActiv
Solution,
anti-acne
cosmetics
Ex. 2) above
the
influence.com
organisation




























17

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 The textual vs. the visual medium in the Swedish edition of ELLE.

Category I Advertisements with a celebrity advertising an international product, visual ads.
Example 1) Maybelline New York make-up products advertised by Marie Serneholts singer.
The ad takes up two pages; a visual element (the picture of the singer covers three quarters of
both pages). On the left page, bottom left corner there is a small picture of the cosmetics.
Under and over them there are minimal textual elements the upper one is a single sentence:
Marie Serneholts favoriter. Next to this sentence there is a handwritten signature
(presumably of the singer). The text under the picture of the cosmetics is an enumeration of
the names and prices of the products shown. The reader is made to believe that the singer uses
these cosmetics and that she recommends them to us (readers). Usually, if a celebrity appears
in an ad of cosmetics, the image of this person is the dominant element of the ad (this applies
to both the English and the Swedish edition). The celebrity functions as a reinforcement and
as a reassurance the famous person uses the product, so it is worth buying and reliable.
The text in this particular ad has a very practical function it gives names and prices of each
product. The text does not try to compel the reader directly to buy the products; it does not
describe the effects the products might give (which are ubiquitous in such ads). It is enough
that the singer uses them and recommends them as her favorites.

Category II Advertisements with a dominant textual element, informative ads.
Example 1) Scandinavian Formula hair products.
The advertisement consists of a textual element, which takes two thirds of the page. The top
and the left margin of the page are covered with pictures of the logo and a picture of a woman
with a hairstyle (the top of the page), and on the left pictures of the products. The text presents
a very interesting form it resembles a dialogue of a client and the producer. The producer is
the authority, she/he gives advice to a client; each answer consists the name of one of the
products, so that each product is presented and described at a time. In addition, at the bottom
of the page, there is a short information where these products can be bought, a phone number
and a website. The bottles on the left also contain elaborate information about the functions of
each of them. The reader is given comprehensive knowledge about the brand; the products
answer all the needs of a potential client.

18
Example 2) Max Factor Flawless Perfection foundation
The advertisement takes up two pages, half of each page is covered in text, and the two inner
halves are picture, which together make one picture. It can be argued that the pictorial and the
textual elements are even in amount. The product is divided into two parts, which the text
describes as two steps. One part of the text is called: Make-up tips frn Gino Tamagnini,
the other describes in short the two steps of applying the product. The picture shows a
womans face next to a mirror, her reflection shows a pale grey face, whereas the womans
face in front of the mirror is well made-up and in healthy colours (after using the product).
The whole ad gives detailed information about the effects of the product; it borrows its form
from the stereotypical hair dye ad (described in the previous chapter). I would argue that the
producer assumes that the more knowledge about the product means greater possibility of
buying this product by the consumer.

Example 3), 4) Clinique cosmetics facials and lipsticks
The two advertisements constitute a separate sub-category of ads aimed at a target group
with allergic illnesses. The textual element in both ads takes only one third of the page, but it
is this element that gives all of the relevant information to the reader. Since the cosmetics are
made for allergists, the information must be detailed. The text presents each product
thoroughly and explains the application in 3 steps (for facials). Moreover, the name of the
brand Clinique gives information about the way the brand wants to be perceived by
customers as having to do with medical science (reliable), and production in sterile
environment (clean and safe products). The text on the bottles of the facials is given in two
foreign languages: English and French a statement of internationality. It is worth
mentioning that all of Cliniques ads have white background a sign of cleanness and of
stereotypical colour of clinics - white. The lack of colourful background makes the reader
focus on the picture of the product and on the textual element.

Example 5) Estee Lauder anti-wrinkle eye cream
6) Biotherm anti-wrinkle face cream
7) Lancome mascara Lextreme

This group of ads has in common utilization of numbers and percentages to prove the
effectiveness of the products. The first example Estee Lauder anti-wrinkle eye cream
employs numbers (7x) to explain the quickness of the product. The text makes a comparison
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between the product and other products (of competitors), and asserts that it works seven times
faster than the competitors. Despite the fact that a consumer cannot measure the effectiveness
of the product by herself and confirm the quickness (7x faster), the use of numbers gives the
ad the air of being scientifically tested and proved. Apart from the textual element, there are
two pictures one takes the whole right page of the ad, the second, smaller picture presents
the product. The bigger picture shows three women of different skin colours and types
another case of expressing internationality of the product.

The second example anti-wrinkle face cream by Biotherm ad uses a different tactic instead
of saying how fast the product is, it gives its effectiveness in percentage. Unlike in the first
example, this ad does not compare its product to the ones of competitors, instead it
enumerates the advantages of using the face cream and gives proof in percentage in bigger
font in the center of the page. The description of the cream is purely informative, it lacks
figurative language, so ubiquitous in ads for, for example, perfume.

The third example is Lancome mascara LExtreme. This ad also uses percentage to ensure
the reader about the reliability of the product. This time the informativeness of the ad is very
limited the textual element is very small in comparison with the visual one, which takes
almost two pages. The text has a form of single points, a list of effects after the application.
The percentage is given in the heading of the text and its font is enlarged. The producer has
chosen to utilize numbers instead of a simpler message (your lashes will be longer) to avoid
banality and to intrigue the reader. The name of the product LExtreme - introduces a
foreign language (French). The French origin of the product is manifested only in the name of
the brand and of the product. The textual element is wholly in Swedish. Even though the text
is minimal, I would argue that it still belongs to the category of informative ads, because of
the informative nature of the text.

Category III Advertisements in which a pun or visual humour is employed.
Example 1) Nivea Self Tan Lotion (word pun)
The advertisement shows two women holding each other and smiling at the arrivals at an
airport. Both of them are strongly tanned. Each woman is equipped with a textual heading:
one says Solbrun frn Ibiza, the other Solbrun med Nivea. Under this picture the reader
will find the picture of the product with a short description and a website. The humour in this
ad comes from the comparison between the two women made in the text; it is through the
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text that the pun comes into being. Even though the balance between the text and the picture
is not kept (the visual element dominates), both elements of the ad cannot exist without each
other and together constitute a complete message.

Example 2) perfume for men Armand Basi
It is rare to find an example of an ad for mens perfume in a magazine targeted at women. The
reasons for this might be that the editor of the magazine allows such an ad, because it
advertises something that a female reader can give as a gift to her man or that it might be
possible that the magazine has readers from the out-roup (men, elderly people etc.). This ad is
not only a deviation on the level of targeting but it also uses visual humour to make it even
more interesting. The ad is a combination of two pictures and a heading the bigger picture
shows a young man with butterfly wings sitting next to a wall and the smaller one the bottle
of the perfume in a small size (shrunken). The heading over the pictures reads: Armand Basi
in blue, who wants to be conventional?. The pun (as in the previous example) appears after
the reader combines both the textual and the visual elements. The question in the heading is
ridiculed by the picture; unconventionality is eccentricity, not individuality in this ad.


Category IV Advertisements of genuine Swedish brands.
Example 1) Lumene mascara
The advertisement includes a bigger picture of a woman, a smaller picture of the product and
a text presenting the product. Despite the fact that this ad appears in the Swedish edition of
ELLE and is targeted at Swedish readers, it has elements of foreign (English) language the
heading at the top of the page: The sky is the limit and under the logo at the bottom of the
page: Lumene, The Secret of Nordic Beauty. Small parts of the text are in bold, they stand
out of the text (assumed important words, that the consumer should see first). The ad uses
repetition some words that are key to the ad appear in different places more than once. They
reinforce the message of the ad and make sure that the reader will not miss what the producer
wants to get across.

Example 2) Olle & Marie face and hair styling
The advertisement consists of a picture of a womans face and of a heading. The heading
gives the name of the beauty salon, the address and telephone number. At the bottom of the
page there is the day and hour of opening of the salon. This small textual element does not
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give any details about the product/brand/producer. It only introduces the names of the
designers. The textual element has been reduced to the absolute minimum; the picture is a
sample of the offered services in the salon.

Example 3) Face Stockholm make-up salon
As in the previous case, this ad also combines a whole page of visual element (a womans
face) with an almost non-existent textual element (only the logo and the website). The picture
is a presentation of the services and it does not have the selling a product function of most
ads in womens magazines. The logo has an explanatory function; the reader is told that this
company deals with the face, but apart from this word the reader is left on his own to
comprehend the message of the ad. The relationship between both elements of an
advertisement is crucial in understanding it. There are cases, when the picture with a logo is
enough to be a clear message. This applies to widely known, commercial, international
products. However, when national products, like in the examples above, are advertised in an
international magazine like ELLE, even if it is directed at one nation (Sweden), the lack of
explicit information in an ad might cause its misunderstanding. The issue of unclear ads will
be taken up in the next chapter.

























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2.2 Textual vs. Visual Medium in English edition of ELLE.

Category I: Advertisements of perfume the visual element dominates over the textual
element. Visual ads.
Example 1) Advertisement of the Calvin Klein Euphoria perfume.
The ad takes two full pages. It consists of a picture of a woman on the right and a picture of a
bottle of the advertised perfume on the left. The whole ad is in light brown colour which
gives it warmth. On the left, behind the bottle of the perfume we see a sunset in brown and
copper colours. Text in this ad is almost non-existent, it only appears as the name of the
perfume over the bottle, and under it as a phrase (a new fragrance Calvin Klein). In addition,
the name of the perfume and of the producer can be read on the neck of the bottle. The
whole right page is covered in the face of a woman; in the top left corner we see her again,
only smaller, and her face shows a feeling of ecstasy or euphoria (as the name of the perfume
implies). It can be argued that the smaller picture of the same woman represents what is in
her head, because the smaller picture is placed very close to the ladys face. This proximity
imposes on the viewer the impression of oneness of the whole picture. The woman and the
bottle are one and the same thing euphoria. The producer is trying to say: Apply this
perfume and you will become like her, and you will feel like her. The textual message seems
to be omitted on purpose, because of the assumption that the one word euphoria is enough
to explain the meaning of the advertisement. The reader, given so little textual information, is
free to interpret the ad how she/he wants, according to ones life experience and expectations.
Even though the textual element is so small the aim of the ad is clear the words a new
fragrance and the name of the producer, which is in bigger and thicker font, make the ad
clear.
Such ads constitute a whole category; there can be presented many examples of ads with very
similar layout and relationship between text and picture.

Example 2) Advertisement of Michael Kors perfume.
The advertisement takes less space than the previous example, only one page. It presents a
naked woman (the bottom part of her face and upper part of the chest), lying on the ground,
bed we cannot see where. The background is white. In the top right corner there is the name
of the producer and at the same time the name of the perfume; its hardly visible, because of
the colours the white logo is placed on the almost white background. In the bottom left
corner there is the bottle of the perfume; its size is much smaller than the size of it in reality.
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Next to it we see a sentence: A chic, luxurious, sexy fragrance for women. The colours of
the ad reflect the colours of the bottle of perfume white and beige. In the ad we cannot see
the eyes of the woman, which makes her anyone or everyone. The ad lacks details it
consists only of the part of a naked body on the white background and of the little bottle and
the sentence in the foreground. The whole ad gives an impression of purity and minimalism.
The phrase explains the aim of the ad its a fragrance for women. Judging from the picture,
the fragrance is for young women the body of the woman is young and smooth. However,
unlike in the last example, she is anonymous (we cannot see her whole face), and therefore
more a background and less a part of the ad.

Example 3) Advertisement of the Emporio Armani City Glam perfume.
The advertisement takes two pages (as in the case of the first example). The left page shows a
man and a woman both of them are young and they are holding each other. On the right
page in the top half there is the name of the perfume City Glam. Its written in an extremely
big and thick font (this is the first thing that catches the eye when one looks at the right page).
Underneath the name there is a picture of two bottles of perfume a pink one and a black one
the bottles stand close together, the writing on both of them together makes the logo and the
name of the perfume. Under the two bottles there is a phrase: Get together with two new
fragrances and the name of the producer. The picture of the couple on the left page, the two
bottles making up one text together and the phrase get together all are representations of the
same message together; the advertisement uses the method of repetition to enforce the
power of the message and to make it absolutely clear.
All the three examples fall under the category of advertisements with a dominant pictorial
element; all three are only in English. I would argue that in order to read the message of these
ads and to get the ideology across to the reader the visual element is crucial and cannot be
deleted. Without it the ad would make an impression of incompleteness and ambiguity in the
negative sense. Moreover, since perfumes fragrance cannot be described in words on paper,
the producers take advantage of the picture in an ad and make it (the picture) speak to us
readers instead of using a textual message.

Category II Advertisements with a dominant textual message. Informative ads.
Example 1) Paul Mitchell luxury hair care hair care products
The advertisement consists of two pages; the right page is almost fully covered in text
enumerating the advantages of the products, the left page shows a face of a smiling woman.
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What is more, besides the regular text, there are circles with small texts, each circle is
attached to one product (there are three). Each circle consists information about the
product and its price, amount in ml. The circles are titled step 1, 2,3 it is like a manual for
the products. The heading of the proper text reads: Get Super Strong. 3 Steps to stronger
Hair. The text gives detailed information about the products and the circles with 3 steps help
the reader (and possibly the future customer) find out how to use the products and in which
order. The picture of the woman on the left works only asreinforcement it does not bring
anything important into the ad, her smile may be interpreted as a smile of a satisfied customer.
In comparison with the earlier category, in which the picture plays a crucial role, here it has
less impact on the viewer its role is more limited; it is the text that is the medium of
communication with the reader.

Example 2) Advertisement of a hair-dye LOreal Couleur Experte.
The advertisement takes one page. The page is divided in two vertical halves on the left we
see three faces of women with three different hair colours, on the right there is a text which
explains in two steps how to apply the colour. Under the text there is a round sign like an
office stamp saying: voted product of the year a proof of reliability of the product.
Moreover, next to the text there are small pictures showing each stage of application of the
colour. It is common knowledge that hair coloring is a process that involves several steps,
therefore producers of such cosmetics are obliged to give clear and reliable information about
how to apply the product. I would argue that due to the nature of this product it is the best
example, a prototype of an informative advertisement. Of course, there are other ads of other
beauty products, like lipsticks or mascaras, that borrow this pattern of steps and
informativeness to make the ads seem more reliable and complicated.

Example 3) Maximum Length Mascara Lash XL Estee lauder
The advertisement consists of two pictures and a small text. One picture takes up the whole
right page, the small one and the text the left one. On the right page there is a big picture of
two women and on the left a smaller picture of the mascaras (repetition of the same product)
and over this picture a short text. The text has a heading: Give lashes what they long for Lash
XL, Maximum Length Mascara. The text under the heading gives some information about
the aim of the product, and, what is interesting, a promise that the lashes will be 50% longer.
The use of percentage makes us think about more technical or scientific texts; its appearance
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in an ad for a mascara works as a sign of reliability of the producer (that some facts about the
product have been measured scientifically).
Examples in this category are to a different degree informative. Their role is to inform the
reader in detail about the functions of the products. Some producers borrow this technique to
advertise products, which do not need such elaborate explanations of use, to make a product
seem more modern or connected with science. In the case of informative ads the picture,
even if it is much bigger than the text, is only a background, it doesnt carry any important
information, and therefore can be called a filler pictorial element.

Category III Advertisements where a word pun or a phonological pun is employed.
Example1) Ad for Alexander McQueen My Queen perfume.
The advertisement consists of a picture of a beautiful woman wearing a glittering violet dress.
She is sitting in a big armchair, which resembles a kings throne. Behind the throne we see a
sunset in violet, pink and yellow. On the left there is a small text: My Queen, The new
feminine fragrance. On the bottom left, there is a small picture of the bottle of perfume
(violet like the rest of the ad); under the bottle there is the name of the producer: Alexander
McQueen. The ad utilizes a word pun the name of the perfume and the name of the producer
are almost identical, except for one letter. The picture also takes part in decoding the
meaning of the textual element. The three elements of the ad the picture of the woman, the
name of the product and of the producer constitute a chain, in which the word queen is the
common word, but each element of the chain realizes this word in a slightly different
manner. The chain leads the reader to the product perfume.

Example 2) Mist Make-up Airflash Dior.
The advertisement presents the product a bottle of make-up in the bottom left corner,
whereas the rest of the page is filled with a face of a smiling woman she is looking at the
bottle with appreciation. At the top right there is the logo Dior in big font and silver-like
letters. In the middle of the page there is a phrase: airbrushed perfection in a flash. At the
bottom of the page, next to the bottle, there is a short text. The text consists of three sentences
with three headings in bigger font: Revelation, Sensation and Perfection. The most
intriguing part of this ad is the sentence in the middle of the page airbrushed perfection in a
flash. The use of the sound sh is very frequent in this sentence, it also resembles the sound
of a spray - the product is a spray. It can be said that in this ad the producer used a
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phonological pun the sentence which describes the product is at the same time a sound that
this product makes when used.
The use of puns on the word level and on the phonological level is quite a popular technique.
It gives an ad new quality and makes it more interesting for the reader. Humor, verbal or
visual, is always appreciated in advertisements.

Category IV Advertisements where visual humour is employed.
Example 1) Sunsilk hair products
A good example of visual humour is an advertisement of Sunsilk hair products called Intense
Blonde and Intense Brunette. The first ad, for the Blonde products shows a scene at a
university graduation; an elderly professor is kissing a young woman (a graduate) with shiny,
long, blond hair. Everyone around (other professors) is surprised and shocked. The text above
this scene says: Intense Blonde, For unexpected results (). Another example is an ad for
Intense Brunette hair products a bridegroom is kissing a waitress at his wedding party, his
wife is looking at this in horror. The waitress has shiny, dark brown hair. The text above says:
Intense Brunette, For unexpected results. Both ads make use of certain social taboos, turning
them into jokes. The joke becomes clear when the reader reads the text above and sees tiny
bottles of hair products next to the text. Visual humour often enriches ads that advertise
boring everyday products like shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Humour is the key to sell more
products than competitors, when the products of many brands are very similar and it is hard to
think of new ways of selling them.

Category V Advertisements which talk about common human fears, complexes and
imperfections solution advertisements.
Example 1) Expert care for flat, lifeless hair.
Weightless Volume, Salon Solutions (hair mousse)
The advertisement shows a woman with a perfect hairstyle. Next to her there is a bottle of hair
mousse, under the bottle a text, which is stylized to resemble a personal letter it starts with
Use my Weightless Volume () mousse [] and is signed with a handwritten signature.
This personalization of the message gives an impression of a friends advice, which she/he
sends to a reader of the ad. The letter talks about the product (hair mousse) as a great
solution to all hair problems.


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Example 2) Would you put dandruff in this picture?
Head and Shoulders shampoo
The advertisement consists of a picture of a young boy and a young girl. Behind them there is
an ocean wave, which is produced by the bottle of the shampoo at the bottom right of the
page. The whole ad is in blue colour, which gives a feeling of freshness and cleanness. Under
the picture of the two young people there is a text explaining the purpose and the
effectiveness (100 percent) of the product. The question on the top of the page: Would you
put dandruff in this picture? doesnt need answering, because the answer is obvious. The
whole ad is a manifestation of freshness and careless happiness.

Example 3) St. Ives body lotion
The advertisement contains a picture of a naked woman putting body lotion on her arm. The
picture is slightly blurred, it functions only as a background. In the foreground there are three
sentences in a thicker and bigger font on the left. On the right there is a picture of the body
lotion, shrunken. The three sentences say: Doesnt rub off. Doesnt wear out. Doesnt let you
down. These sentences function as reassurance this product wont let you down.
Underneath there is more text in small font. It gives more detailed information about the
product.

Category VI Advertisements in which a celebrity advertises an international product.
Example1) Very Irresistible Givenchy perfume.
The perfume is advertised by Liv Tyler, an American actress. Her name is put in the top left
corner under the logo of the producer. In the bottom right corner there is the bottle of the
perfume in enlarged size, next to it the name of the product and two sentences: The New
Sensual Eau de Parfum, very elegante, very fun, very you. The producer included French
language in the textual element. One reason for that is to present a brand which originated in
France. Other reason is France is widely known for producing high quality perfume. Even
though the ad has nothing to do with France and is not aimed at French target-group, the
French language is kept to give an impression of Frenchness and luxury. The person of the
actress is one more reinforcement to promote the product.

Category VII Ads in which an element of the supernatural or fantastical (imaginary) world is
used.
Example 1) Alien Thierry Mugler perfume
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The ad consists of a picture of a woman stylized to look like an alien. She holds a bottle of the
perfume in her hand. In the other hand she has a shining sign the word ALIEN.
Beside her there is a question asking if you believe in the Extraordinary? At the bottom of
the page there is a sentence: The new perfume by Thierry Mugler. This advertisement is
unusual it takes up one of the mysteries of the unhabited/habitated universe. It also appeals
to our desire to be unique and extraordinary. The two desires are combined to give the
reader a surprise and to make her/him interested in the ad.
Advertisers gain motifs for their advertisements from many sources, but one of the most
abundant in usable motifs is the mythology, legends, science-fiction and movies. UFO, for
example, and the aliens is not a very common motif in ads for cosmetics in womans
magazines (like ELLE). Nevertheless, it can be found and is a very interesting case of
advertisement. I would categorize this kind of ads as unexpected ads in the sense that the
motif borrowed for the ad (aliens) is not a common one and is not commonly associated with
selling cosmetics.

To sum up, the advertisements in the English edition of ELLE present a wide variety of
categories. Banal, everyday products are shown in many innovative ways with the textual or
the visual element in dominance, using humour or word puns, appealing to our desires and
fantasies and giving advice. In great majority of cases only English language is used. The only
exceptions are the products of French origin (minimal French element in the textual element).
Most ads focus first on pleasing and making the consumer happy and satisfied and after that
they mention such factors as usefulness or reliability. It seems that for British consumers it is
the pleasure of using the product that comes first and after that other factors, such as
reliability. 17 out of 19 ads put pleasure on the first place, and then other factors, such as
reliability.









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2.3 Metaphors in the English edition of ELLE.

1. A particular view of reality.
All the examples of advertisements discussed in the chapter The textual vs. the visual
medium in the English edition of ELLE present a particular view of reality. It can be argued
that this view of reality is a reflexion of the needs, desires and fears of the readers belonging
to the target group. It is also true, that it is the advertisers, who are the designers of the
message in an ad, and therefore impose on the readers a certain worldview. The imposed
worldview can create stereotypes and scripts, which dont have to mirror reality in full or
which can create new meanings and connotations. Metaphor is a linguistic tool, which leads
to new meanings. Advertisers utilize new or unconventional mappings to capture readers
attention:

Category II: Example 1) Paul Mitchell Luxury Hair Care
HAIR CARE IS WAR/FIGHT
Hair is under attack. The environment, heat styling, colouring and bleaching can all take their
toll. Paul Mitchell fights back with new Super Strong a three part strengthening system for
your hair.

THE PRODUCT IS A TOOL TO FIGHT BACK/WEAPON
Super Strong Daily Shampoo, Daily Conditioner and Treatment can help strengthen hair
with Paul Mitchell Super Strong you have the tools to fight back.

THE PRODUCT IS A HEALING DEVICE
The vegetable proteins penetrate the cortex to help moisturize and strengthen the hair.
Helps strengthen weak or damaged hair ().

USING THE PRODUCT MEANS BELONGING TO AN ELITE
good hairdressers have it (the product)
Only available from Paul Mitchell salons ()

USING THE PRODUCT MEANS SUPPORTING A CHARITY ORGANISATION
Paul Mitchell Super Strong supports The Pink Ribbon Foundation.

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Category II: Example 3) Estee Lauder Lash XL Mascara
LASHES ARE BEINGS WITH FEELINGS
Give lashes what they long for.

USING THE PRODUCT MEANS GOING BEYOND REALITY
Now get extremely long, way out there lashes that defy reality.

USING THE PRODUCT IS EXAGGERATING
Its great to exaggerate.

Category IV: Example 1) Sunsilk Intense Blonde hair products

USING THE PRODUCT IS ACHIEVING UNEXPECTED RESULTS
Intense Blonde. For unexpected results.

USING THE PRODUCT IS REVEALING
Whether natural, highlighted or colour treated hair, reveal the intensity of your colour with
Sunsilk Lively Blonde.

Category V: Example 3) St. Ives body lotion
USING THE PRODUCT IS RELIABILITY
Doesnt let you down.

USING THE PRODUCT MEANS LONG EFFECTS
With St. Ives 24 Hour Moisturizer, the softness doesnt stop.

USING THE PRODUCT MEANS THREE STEPS
Moisturize. Replenish. Retain.

2. Metaphor highlights certain semantic components of the source domain and omits
others. (Koller)

One of the key features of metaphor is highlighting of certain elements of a domain and
omitting others. For example, if we look again at the metaphor HAIR CARE IS
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WAR/FIGHT, the only elements of the source domain, which are highlighted are ATTACK,
FIGHTING BACK and WEAPON, whereas other elements, such as casualties and anger are
omitted, because these elements are inconsistent with that metaphor (Lakoff, Johnson).
Metaphor compresses meaning in a few words. This linguistic economy functions as a
trigger for imagination of the reader of an ad, so that the smaller amount of explicitly given
information opens many possibilities of interpretation based on ones experience.

3. Mapping of features from a source to a target domain.

If a meaning cannot be expressed in a straightforward manner, literally, and it is easier to
comprehend the meaning in terms of another experience, mapping can be used. If an
advertiser wants to convince a potential customer, that her/his product has powerful effect and
is able to eliminate, for example, an illness, the producer can borrow some aspects of a
different domain (like war) to talk about the domain of illnesses. The advertiser can use
mapping to formulate a statement, which will describe the product, for example, in terms of a
weapon against the enemy the illness.
Utilization of mapping helps to avoid banality in advertisements, gives the message more
power of conviction and highlights those features of the product that are essential both for
the producer and for the customer. Regarding products, which eliminate illnesses (like
medications), the focus is on the effectiveness and quickness, whereas other elements of the
target domain, such as the colour of the packaging or size are omitted as irrelevant.

4. Media communication is monologic (Koller)

It is necessary to keep in mind, that advertisements in womens magazines are targeted at
enormous groups of people, of different life experience and social position. Moreover, the
voice that speaks to the readers is unidirectional. The reader cannot participate in a
dialogue with the advertiser and therefore communication is very limited. The process of
designing an ad for a target group is complicated and faces many difficulties. We have to
take into account, that a target group, in this case, the readers of the British edition of
ELLE, might be immigrants from different parts of the world with different cultural
heritage. The advertiser, in order to successfully sell his product in Britain, must find such
linguistic expressions and visual components for her/his ad, that will be comprehensible for
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the whole target group (young women). Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By state
that:

The most fundamental values in a culture will be coherent with the metaphorical structure of the most
fundamental concepts in culture. There are basic metaphorical structures that advertisers can build
upon without risking ambiguity or unclearness, because in general the major orientations up-down, in-
out, central-peripheral, active-passive, etc., seem to cut across all cultures ().

5. Emotional branding (Koller)

Nowadays, advertisements are abundant with emotions. This applies especially to ads in
womens magazines like ELLE. The advertisers compel female customers to buy products
in a very soft and emotional voice. Pleasure, satisfaction and happiness are the key words
for advertisers; a product is not accepted if it doesnt give any kind of pleasure (physical or
emotional):

Example: Dior Rouge Velvet lipstick (physical pleasure)
A new velvet sensation, a new powder finish. 6 shades, exceptionally radiant and sensual.
Lips signed by Dior.

Category I: Example 2) Michael Kors perfume (emotional pleasure)
A chic, luxurious, sexy fragrance for women.

These two examples contain metaphors based on the pleasure element:
SENSATION IS A TANGIBLE OBJECT SOFT; VELVETY
SENSATION IS A PERSON THAT IS SENSUAL
FRAGRANCE IS A CHIC, LUXURIOUS, SEXY WOMAN

In the first example, metaphor is utilized to describe the act of application of the product; in
the second one to enumerate all the advantages of the product, which, after the application,
are projected onto the person (user) the person becomes chic, luxurious and sexy.





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6. Metaphors as exaggerations (Koller)
Metaphors in advertisements can create exaggerations. Due to the fact, that competition in the
cosmetic trade is enormous, advertisers choose to exaggerate the advantages of the products
in order to make them seem better than the others:

Category II: Example 3) Estee Lauder Lash XL Mascara
Now get extremely long, way out there lashes that defy reality. ElongEX extends natural
lashes to supernatural lengths up to 50% longer. Super Traxion Brush separates, defines and
lengthens beyond belief. Its great to exaggerate.

7. The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in
terms of another (Lakoff, Johnson).

In the cosmetic trade there are certain products that are easy and difficult to advertise. In the
case of day to day products, like face creams, toothpaste or shampoo, the advertiser
usually praises the effectiveness/quickness of the product, because this group of products has
practical more than beautifying purpose. Things become more complicated when one is faced
with advertising a product like perfume. It is hard to describe the smell of perfume to readers,
who have very limited knowledge of the substances used for the production of perfume.
Therefore a technical description wouldnt be a good idea to use when promoting a
commercial product. Instead it is the metaphor that advertisers use to describe the smell, and,
more often, the effect of using certain perfume.

Category VI: Example 1) Very Irresistible Givenchy perfume
The new Sensual Eau de Parfum. Very elegante, very fun, very you.

This textual element of the ad says nothing about the smell of the perfume it advertises.
Instead, it talks about the person that the perfume is made for. It may also describe how a user
of this product can be perceived by her environment (as an elegant, funny person).
In my opinion, perfume advertisements may be the best example of the utilization of
metaphors, as understanding one experience in terms of another.

8. Personification.

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Category V: Example 3) St. Ives body lotion
Doesnt let you down.

Category V: Example 1) Weightless Volume hair mousse
() ultra light formula () gives you fuller looking hair thats full of life.
Personification is a method of making the product speak for itself; it becomes a being who
can help you and who does not let you down. Giving it a human-like trait reliability or
ability to help you, highlights the function of the product.

9. Metonymy.

Category II: Example 3) Estee Lauder Lash XL Mascara
PART OF THE BODY FOR THE PERSON
Give lashes what they long for.

Category I: Example 2) Michael Kors Michael Kors perfume
PRODUCER FOR THE PRODUCT
A chic, luxurious, sexy fragrance for women.

Category II: Example 2) LOreal hair dye
THE COLOUR OF THE HAIR FOR THE HAIR
Personalized multi tonal colour as unique as you are.

Lakoff and Johnson define metonymy as a process when

one entity is being used to refer to another. Metaphor and metonymy are different kinds of processes.
Metaphor is principally a way of conceiving of one thing in terms of another, and its primary function is
understanding. Metonymy, on the other hand, has primarily a referential function, that is, it allows us to use
one entity for another.

Metonymy is less frequent than metaphor in the examples discussed in previous chapters.
However, similarly to metaphor, it reinforces the message of the advertisement by
highlighting certain aspects of a product by focusing on a part of it (part standing for the
whole) or referring to a product named after the producer (product for the producer).


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10. Absence of pictorial code many ways to read a picture.

There is a large category of advertisements, which lack an explicit textual element, there are
also cases when the text is limited to the name of the product and/or the name of the producer.
When the textual message is non-existent, the reader is left to decode the message of an
advertisement from the visual element. Visual advertisements are ubiquitous in cases of
commercial and luxurious products, whose names are well-known and popular (at least for the
members of the target group). Usually, if a product is very famous, its name is enough to
properly decode the ad. Very frequently, even if the product is famous, the producer gives
hints to the reader, just in case she had problems with recognizing the brand:

Example: Dior Rouge Velvet
A new velvet sensation, a new powder finish. 6 shades, exceptionally radiant and sensual.
Lips signed by Dior. (Under the text a picture of the lipstick; on the other page a picture of
womans face with lips in the foreground.)

Category I: Example1) Euphoria Calvin Klein perfume
A new fragrance, Calvin Klein (Over the text a picture of the bottle.)

Category I: Example 2) Michael Kors Michael Kors perfume
A chic, luxurious, sexy fragrance for women. (Next to the text a miniature of the bottle.)

Category III: Example 1) My Queen Alexander McQueen perfume
My Queen, The new feminine fragrance. (To the right, bottom of the page, a miniature
picture of the bottle.)









36
2.4 Metaphors in the Swedish edition of ELLE

Before the examples of metaphors in the Swedish ads are discussed, I would like to point out
two major obstacles with which a reader may be faced, namely unclear ads, and in and out
group reading of an advertisement.

1. Unclear ads.

The Swedish edition of ELLE, similarly to the English one, attracts the readers attention
with multiple kinds of advertisements. The advertisements can be divided into two broad
categories: translations of international advertisements (mostly from English to Swedish)
partial and full; and advertisements of national Swedish products/brands. This division into
international and national ads plays a very important role when one takes into consideration
the factor of clearness of ads.

The unclearness of the advertisement can be caused by
- unclear visual element
- unclear textual element
- unclear combination of both elements


2. In group and out group reading of ads.

The member of the in group (target group) is presented with two kinds of ads
translations and national ads. The national ads for the members of that nation (for example
Sweden) shouldnt be problematic in reading, unless the advertiser uses a foreign language in
the ad (English, French) or she/he limits the textual message to such extent that the logo of the
product/brand becomes the only textual referent.
If the reader belongs to the out group, the reading becomes more complicated, especially as
far as the national ads are concerned (the product/brand is not commercial, popular, the
textual element is limited to the logo, or the language of the textual element is foreign to the
reader).

The unclearness of the advertisement can be caused by
- unclear visual element
37
- unclear textual element
- unclear combination of both elements

Category IV: Example 3) Face Stockholm make up salon
The advertisement gives the reader only two textual references to the brand the logo and the
website. The ad doesnt advertise a particular product, its more an invitation and a sample of
the available services in the salon (the picture presents a made-up face of a woman).
However, for a foreign reader or a person who doesnt visit such salons, the ad with so limited
text may be unclear, because there is no information about the purpose of the ad. The word
face is the only hint that the advertiser gives to the reader.

Category IV: Example 2) Olle & Marie face and hair salon
This example is even more unclear, because the advertiser doesnt give any textual hint in
the advertisement about the purpose of the ad. The only textual element is the name of the
brand/company, the address, telephone number and the hours of opening. The visual element
plays the part of reference a face of made-up woman with a fashionable hairstyle. However,
because of the lack of the pictorial code the picture can be interpreted in many ways, also in
the way differing from the intended by the advertiser. Therefore, this ad, as well as the
previous one, can be categorized as unclear.

3. A particular view of reality similarities and differences of the Swedish and the
English editions of ELLE.

Category II: Example 4) Clinique lipstick
Ny look. Ny lyxigt cremig glans. Nya Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick. Cliniques
revolutionerande formula ger glans som ett gloss och knns behagligt som ett lppstift.
terfuktar lpparna och gr dem silkesmjuka med lckra, cremiga frger. Appliceras mjukt
som smr.

Category IV: Example 1) Lumene mascara
() Sky Fi mascara formula innehller skyddande blbr och elastiska fibrer som i varje
applicering gr dina fransar avsevrt lngre, starkare och fylligare. ()

38
Example: Schwarzkopf Gliss shampoo
Vi vet vad ditt hr vill ha. Slitet, skadat, frget eller normalt? Vilken hrtyp du n har
erbjuder Gliss et skrddarskydd shampoo som reparerar ditt prcis efter dina behov. Du fr
garanterat ett glnsade vackert hr.

Category III: Example 1) Nivea Self Tan Lotion
Nivea Sun Touch Self Tan Lotion. Extra fuktighetsgivande fr ett jmnt och naturligt
resultat.

Advertisements in the Swedish edition of ELLE share similar view of reality to the English
one, except small, linguistic differences in the textual element. The Swedish ads focus more
on the effectiveness and functionality of the products than on the pleasure of using them and
on the emotional effects the product may give to the user. In comparison, the English ads
guarantee the reader, that she will look and feel chic, sexy, elegant, etc. in ads for many
cosmetics; the Swedish ones often focus more on the functions than on the emotions. Apart
from this difference, there are no more striking contrasts between ads from both editions.

The contrast functionality vs. emotions/pleasure is also reflected in metaphors used in
Swedish ads:

Clinique lipstick: THE PRODUCT IS A PERSON
Lumene mascara: LONGER IS BETTER
Gliss shampoo: APPLICATION IS REPARATION

3. Metaphor highlights certain semantic components of the source domain and
omits others (Koller) highlighting characteristic of the Swedish
advertisements.

Highlighting, in both editions, reflects the hierarchy of importance of information for the
advertiser. If she/he wants to assure the reader/consumer that it is the effectiveness that is
most valuable in the product, then this information will be highlighted:

Lumene mascara: Himmelska fransar I ett gonblick.
source domain sky
39
SKY IS UP> SKY IS MORE> MORE IS BETTER

The advertiser uses only one component of the source domain SKY height/length. The rest
of the semantic components are omitted. The focus of the ad is on the LENGTH of the lashes.

5. Emotional branding pleasure, emotions elicited by brands
4


Emotional branding is realized in the Swedish ads mostly on the level of physical pleasure
the lipstick is creamy and smooth, the skin will be smooth after applying the body lotion,
etc. Its hard to find ads which talk strictly about emotional pleasure coming from using the
product (which is omnipresent in English ads!). The reason for this contrasting realization
can be the cultural coherence, different world experience or different needs of customers in
both countries (this distinction is also visible in metaphors in ads). The English want to read
about products, which give the sense of happiness and exceptionality. The Swedish want to
know what the product does and if it is reliable. Of course, there are exceptions from this
division, but they are rare. In the group of 17 advertisements in the Swedish issue of ELLE
only one talks strictly about emotional pleasure connected with using the product. The ad is in
English and the product is international. In the group of 19 advertisements in the English
edition only two inform the reader about the functions of the product, avoiding emotional
branding.
These findings are, of course, very limited, since they are based on only one issue from
November 2005, but nevertheless a difference in advertising strategy is visible.

6. Metaphors are exaggerations.

The Swedish advertisements also, like the British, use exaggeration to highlight the
advantages of the products:

Clinique lipstick:

4
For more information about emotional branding see Koller Metaphor and gender in business media discourse
(2004), New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

40
Ny look. Ny lyxigt cremig glans. () Cliniques revolutionerande formula ger glans som ett
gloss och knns behagligt som ett lppstift. terfuktar lpparna och gr dem silkesmjuka med
lckra, cremiga frgar. Appliceras mjukt som smr.

Nivea make-up (foundation):
Ny formula som ger ett perfekt resultat I upp till 12 timmar ()
Superfina frgpigment tcker och jmnar ut.
Matchar din egen naturliga hudton perfekt.

Estee Lauder under-eye anti-wrinkle cream:
() Den lttar upp mrka ringar p ett gonblick och skapar en optimal fuktighetsniv nr
du applicerar den p din hud.
Glm det som varit. En bttre nutid. En perfekt framtid.

Lumene mascara:
Himmelska fransar i ett gonblick
The sky is the limit.

7. The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in
terms of another. (Lakoff, Johnson, 1980)

Swedish, as well as English advertisers rely heavily on metaphors when it comes to attracting
the readers attention and compelling them to buy all kinds of products. Metaphors are present
in ads for shampoo, mascara, lipstick, perfume, etc. Products become weapons, healers,
protectors. Metaphor gives enormous possibilities of constructing new mappings and new
meanings: a cosmetic can become something more than a thing it can gain new purposes for
the customer. Understanding one experience in terms of another is a widespread method
realized in advertisements in both editions of the magazine.

8. Personification.

Personification is present in the Swedish ads. The features of human beings are projected
onto the advertised product:

41
Nya Lumene Sky Fi Volume
Mascara uppfyller dina drmmar om - the product fulfills customers dreams
perfekt lnga vackra gonfransar.

Nivea foundation () ger din hy lyster - the product gives shine to the skin

Usually, the advertisers make the product the person, who does its functions to us
customers. Sometimes this technique is replaced with the use of the personal pronoun I:

Lancome mascara:
Jag frlanger mina fransar med upp till 60%.

Personal pronoun I is quite rare in advertisements of the Swedish edition; in the studied
group of Swedish ads I found only one such case.

9. Metonymy.

Schwarzkopf shampoo:
Vi vet prcis vad ditt hr vill ha. - HAIR FOR THE PERSON

Schwarzkopf Poly Blonde:
Perfekt blond. Poly Blonde. - perfect blond - HAIR
COLOUR FOR HAIR

Nivea foundation:
Nyhet! Stay Real frn Nivea Beaute. - THE NAME OF THE PRODUCT FOR
PRODUCT

Nivea Self Tan Lotion:
Solbrun med Nivea. SUNTAN FOR THE PERSON

Metonymy allows the reader to focus more specifically on certain aspects of what is being
referred to (Lakoff, Johnson). Therefore, in the ad for a self tan the person who is tanned is
42
referred to as sun-tan with Nivea, the new make-up by Nivea is referred to as Stay Real,
the coloured hair as perfect blond. Hair stands for the person who knows what she wants.













































43
2.5 The textual vs. the visual medium in the Swedish edition of Julia.

Category I: Example 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
Wibbles toy accessory

The advert takes one page. It is divided in two clear parts. The bigger part with a dominant
pictorial element at the top of the page presents two girls showing the toy. Under this picture
there is a textual element on a black background. There are also miniatures of the products
shown over the text.

Kp en Wibbles, s fr du tv. Den ena behller du sjlv, den andra ger du till en kompis du
tycker om. Wibbles visar att ni gillar varandra och hr ihop. Det finns mnga olika Wibbles,
s du kan ge bort och byta med alla dina kompisar. Wibbles finner du i din nrmaste
leksaksbutik!

The text explains in a very straightforward manner the purpose and function of the product. It
also, along with the picture, points to the target-group, especially as far as the age of the
recipients is concerned the girls in the ad are very young, around 13-14 years old.
The ad also informs the reader about the internet website, telephone and fax of the company.

Over the text there is a heading in a red heart:
rets nyhet! Wibble med dina kompisar.

Since the product comes in two parts in one packaging two toys in one box, the ad utilizes
the pair factor. One sees two girls, two products in one box and the text also mentions pairs
many times.

Category III: Example 1) Ads where some part of the text is kept in English.
O.B. ProComfort tampons

Ingenting r omjligt. Vad gr man nr ens kompisar drar med en till vrsta backen just nr
man har ftt mens? Vi hade precis kommit up till fjllen och jag ville verkligen ka skidor och
ha kul. S drfr anvnde jag o.b. Procomfort och det funkade jttebra. Den r sker s att jag
kan gra allt jag vill. Det knns som en vanlig dag, en dag nr man inte har mens. Jag r hur
pigg som helst, s se upp i backen!
44
This advertisement is an informative ad and an example of an ad with a dominant textual
element. There are two pictorial elements one shows a girl skiing and the other shows the
product.
The text of the ad is stylised to look like handwriting. The reader is made to believe that it is
the girl from the picture that wrote it. Under this text there is a small picture of the product in
the box and of the tampon and how it is made. The description of the tampon at the bottom of
the page is more technical than the handwritten text.
The pictorial elements function as fillers they do not bring into the ad anything new,
especially the picture of the girl.

Category I: Example 2) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
Julia dagbok accessory, notebook

The ad consists of a large pictorial element and a small text. The picture shows the product, a
notebook, in real size. Next to the picture there is a text:

Julias dagbok r den perfekta dagboken fr dig som lskar Julia. Hr finns det gott om
utrymme fr att skriva ner alla dina innersta hemligheter och tankar. Och hemligheterna
frblir hemligheter. Dagboken skyddas nmligen av ett underbart mjukt och hrligt
plyschomslag med tillhrande ls.

This text has a very large-font heading:

Kp rets hftigaste dagbok! Pris: 149 KR.

And under the picture of the notebook:

Perfekt att ge bort i present!

The whole ad is in pink colour, which makes it look very girly. The product is the biggest
item on the page, therefore attracts the attention first. What is interesting, the price is shown in
an extremely large font. This technique is usually avoided in ads, unless the price is a discount
then it has an additional function of focusing interest.
45
In this case the text is dominated by the life-size picture and functions only as a description. It
is written in small font and is only the third largest element, if we put all the elements in an
order. The picture, which presents the product sends a clear message of what is being
advertised, therefore the textual description is pushed into the second place of importance.

Category IV: Example 1) Ads where the textual element is wholly in Swedish.
Fin under group ad, underwear

Knslan av att vara fin hela vgen, frn under till ytterklder n oslagbar. Inte minst till
fest!

The ad is built of rows of products with small textual descriptions. The two-page ad has a
heading (Knslan). Each product is accompanied by the name of the company and the
price.
All the products are shown shrunk so that they form clear rows and quite a lot of them can
be fit into one page.

The pictorial elements almost completely dominate the advertisement. The heading takes on
the means of reference to all the products shown on the two pages.

Category II: Example 1) Ads with a dominant textual element.
Dippa och njut! a recipe

Salt och varmt lskande och kallt. Hr har du allt du behver fr en smaskig kvll i
filmsoffan med kompisarna.

The ad is divided into three parts the two pictures of dishes at the top, the middle part with
the heading Salt and the bottom part with two short recepies for the dishes shown on the
pictures. The pictures are large and attract attention as the most prominent element

The text of the recepies is written in a very clear language. It is customized to fit the age of
the targeted reader. Also the pictures of the dishes are large and clearly show how the result
of cooking should look like.

46
There is also a website given at the bottom of the page, in case the reader wishes to find some
more recepies to try out.


Category V: Example 1) Ads of international brands wholly in Swedish.
Vinn mousse & vax ad for Taft hair products

This example of an advertisement can be categorized as a marginal case of real, full-page
ads. The main purpose of the ad is to show the prize in a contest. If the reader answers a
question correctly, she can win Taft hair products. However, even though this case cannot be
fully categorized as a real advertisement, it has most of the features of an ad. Firstly, there is
a pictorial element, which is a name of the company Schwarzkopf is mentioned; it is also
visible on the products themselves on the picture.

The text of the semi-ad is:

Julia lottar ut ett kit med hrprodukter frn Schwarzkopf. Bde vaxet och moussen ger ditt
hr en glnsade och silkig effekt.

Since the text enumerates the functions and advantages of the products, there can be no doubt
that it has the function of advertising the hair products.
Even though this is not the primary purpose of this text (it is an invitation to take part in a
contest), it also plays a role of an ad for the prize in this small contest.

There is a noticeable tendency to interweave adverts for products with other genres in
womens magazines, such as:

food recipes, where, for example, the names of the ingredients are given as names of
brands, for example: use Arla cottage cheese, use Danone yoghurt, etc.
articles about face and body care, where particular brands of cosmetics are mentioned
as solving some beauty problems, for example: use Garnier body lotion to make
your skin smoother, use LOreal face tonic to eliminate skin imperfections, etc.
fashion articles, where particular clothes companies are enumerated or their products
shown as general examples of what is fashionable to wear nowadays.
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This tendency for hidden advertising is ubiquitous in magazines for adult women as well as
in those for teenage girls.
































48
2.6 The textual vs. the visual medium in the English edition of J-14.

Category III: Example 1) Ads having more than one pictorial element.
Smackers lip gloss

The ad presents a cosmetic product for young girls a lip gloss. It takes two pages and
consists of three big groups of pictorial elements accompanied by small textual elements
(maximum three sentences). The whole ad is abundant with colours. The pictures show a
teenage girl in many different, everyday situations: playing with friends outside, reading
books with them, stroking a puppy. The text of the ad is minimal. However, it is very well
organised. It starts with a heading on top of the left page Be an original. Under this
heading one finds three bulleted sentences:

start your own collection
add flavour to everything
never settle for imitation

The sentences are followed by a column of ten different variations of the product (different
tastes of the lip gloss).
On the page one finds two groups of pictures. The upper one consists of text and a
presentation of the product but in a slightly different function the previous one was a sort of
lip balm; this one is a lip gloss. Underneath, there is the logo of the cosmetic company
Smackers, All the flavour of being a girl. The text on the right page sais:
Shine on! Everyday, every girl. The perfect everyday, goes with everything, take it
everywhere, share it with everyone, liquid lip gloss.

In this advertisement the textual and pictorial elements cooperate very well in the way that
neither the text nor the picture is fighting for prominence. The text explains what is being
shown and why it is good to have this product, all the advantages of it (you can collect it,
share it with your friends, it has many flavours). The picture conveys a very similar message.
It can be said that each element works as a complementation of the other. When viewed
together, they merge into one consistent representation.


49
Category I: Example 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
LOT 29 Juniors clothes company

This advertisement has a very similar structure to the ones discussed for ELLE. The
pictorial element is in prominence in comparison with the textual one. The text comes down
to the logo, a phone number and the name of the girl, who presents the clothes.
The ad has a white background. The model stands in the centre, which makes her the focus of
the readers attention. The logo of the company is in big, coloured font, which makes it the
second most prominent element of the ad.

The lack of textual explanation of what is being advertised implies that the reader should be
familiar with this particular brand of clothes. What is more, the small size of the text points to
the fact that a reader belonging to the group at which this magazine and ad are targeted should
have no problem with identifying this brand. Also the empty, white background of the ad
makes the reader focus only on the product and the logo, so that there can be no mistake about
where one should be directing attention.

Category IV: Example 1) Ads for many different products presented in a group (for example
accessories).
Stuff we love, Valentines Day group advertisement

a) power pouch Deliciously pink and easy to carry, this metallic bag will add a sweet
punch to your wardrobe. Toss all your goodies inside maybe some candy hearts,
too!
b) funky flair Add some pink to your outfit with this belt the flower cut out design
gives it something extra!
c) a hearty rest Cozy up in these adorable PJs for an ultra-soft sleep youll dream of
true love!
d) sugar rush Get together with some friends or that special someone for the sweetest
cake youll ever taste!
e) girlie glasses Wear these flirty shades and youll see everything through loving
eyes!
f) fancy feet Tell him your hearts pumping down in your toes! These glam sneaks
are cute enough to wear every day of this swoon-worthy month!
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g) manicure your lovelife Brush on this fiery-red color and youll be in the mood to
make plans with your ultimate crush!
h) key to your heart Keep your keys safe and let everyone know that youre in the
mood for romance this month and all year long!
i) spell out your love Everyone will know who your heart belongs to with this
personalised bracelet!

This group of many small ads takes two pages. The pictures of products are evenly spread and
accompanied by small textual elements with highlighted headings. The background of the ad
is, again, white and all the products are in pink and red colours (thus the big heading stuff
we love, Valentines Day). Even though the advertisement contains many small elements it is
very clear. Like in the two previous examples, the text has mostly an explanatory function. It
gives a small description of the product, the name of the brand/company and the price.
The pictorial representations of the products are enlarged, so that the text functions only as an
accompaniment for the picture. It can be said that the pictorial side of the ad is in dominance
over the text.

Category II: Example 2) Ads with a dominant textual element.
Proactiv Solution anti-acne cosmetics.

This advertisement can be categorised as a solution advertisement. It takes one page and is
divided into three parts. The first one is a big heading: Can Proactiv Solution work for your
acne? Take this quiz and find out. Under this heading there is a quiz with six questions
concerning acne. To the right there is a large textual element with a miniature picture of the
advertised products. It also includes a coupon to send and get the cosmetics by mail. There is
also an element, which can be called before-after, showing the effectiveness of the products.

The ad belongs to the category of ads with the dominant textual element and also to the
category of informative ads. In this case the picture is the minimal element and plays only
the complementary role.
Category VI: Example 2) Ads for health organistaions.
abovtheinfluence.com health organisation

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Theyre gonna pull on you some people in one direction, and others in another and some in
directions that you know arent right for you. So after a while, what will all that pulling do to
you?

The ad consists of a picture of a girl with extremely long arms, on a black background. The
text is at the top of the page in white, small font. At the bottom of the page there is the logo of
the organisation. The advertisement has a very serious tone, however, contains pictorial
humour the girl in the picture has extremely long arms. The picture needs the text in order to
be properly understood. Therefore, it can be argued that in this ad the text and the picture
must be combined in order to form one, full meaning.

Category VI: Example1) Ads for health organisations.
VERB health organisation.

The ad is made of ten squares ten pictures with one-sentence texts. Each picture presents a
different situation and the text comments on each one:

Yellowball makes me move.
Yellowball is my shot clock.
Yellowball is my game controller.
Highlight reels happen with Yellowball.
Yellowball is my discoball.
I got Yellowball air today.
Yellowball wipes me out.
Yellowball has one rule: catch it.
Yellowball is a game that doesnt end.
With Yellowball anything is possible.

Beside the ten square pictures there is a text on a yellow background: How will Yellowball
move you? Soak up the fun. Go play. Verbnow.com. Verb. Its what you do.

In this ad the pictures only accompany the text, they do not have an explanatory function. It is
the text that explains the purpose of the ad and governs it.

52
2.7 Metaphors in the Swedish edition of Julia

Category I: Example 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
Wibbles toy accessory

The advertisement consists of a large pictorial element and a textual one, underneath. The
pictorial component is accompanied by a heading:

rets nyhet! Wibbla med dina kompisar.

In this heading the name of the product replaces the verb in the sentence. Thus, the name
Wibbles gets a new function of naming an unspecified group of actions, for example:

To Wibble is to buy the product
To Wibble is to share the product
To Wibble is to have fun, etc.

I would argue that the product name can be understood metonymically as being a source of at
least a few meanings and replacing the names of those actions by the one word Wibbles.
The name of the product stands for its uses playing, sharing, having fun.
What is more, the name of the product itself stands for its features being small, fluffy and
soft.
The utilization of metonymy in these ways has a few practical reasons:

If the producer replaces the name of different actions with the name of the product, the
product name will be present in all of the sentences. Thus, by using repetition the
name of the product is more often visible and easier to memorize by the reader.
By replacing a group of words with only one word the name of the product, the
reader can make her own interpretations about the possible uses of the product, thus
the reader gets more freedom for inventing potential uses of this product (Wibble
med dina kompisar.)
Since there is a considerable limit on the amount of the text in a paper ad, the
advertiser uses metonymy to minimize the scope of the text but preserves the
meanings and the interpretations.
53

Category III: Example 1) Ads where some part of the text is kept in English.
O.B. ProComfort tampons

The advertisement belongs to the group of ads with a dominant textual element. The product
is presented as a helper and a problem solution. These functions are presented to the reader
through the use of metaphors:

det funkade jttebra. THE PRODUCT IS A FUNCTIONING MACHINE

en vanlig dag. USING THE PRODUCT IS UP
USING THE PRODUCT MEANS HAVING A GOOD/FRIENDLY
DAY

Frihet under mensans alla dagar. THE PRODUCT IS A FREEDOM GIVER

In the top right corner of the ad there is a small sign of the Olympics (the five circles) and a
phrase:

torino 2006. Official Womens Health Product.

What is interesting, the rest of the ad does not mention the Olympics at all, nor the fact that it
is the Official Womens Health Product. I would argue that this information is a trigger for
these metaphors:

OLYMPICS/SPORTS ARE UP
PRODUCT CERTIFIED BY THE OLYMPIC SIGN IS UP

Nowadays, the advertisers prefer to use the soft sell strategies and look for creative ways to
advertise the product, without explicitly verbalizing the action of selling:

For the linguist the focus is on how the positive, desirable aspects of the object are represented and put
across. This can be done rather explicitly by verbalizing how good, exquisite, prestigious or healthy the
advertised object is for the customer. Sophisticated advertising prefers more indirect strategies, through,
54
and perhaps the most important one among them is to establish a metaphorical link with a domain
conventionally representing the derived quality.
5


Category I: Example 2) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
Julia dagbok accessory, notebook

The advertisement shows a picture of the product, accompanied by a large heading, the price
of the product and a short textual description. The ad focuses the attention of the reader on the
advantages of the product.
Here are examples of metaphorical expressions from the ad:

THE PRODUCT IS A CONTAINER FOR SECRETS
THE PRODUCT IS A GOOD SECRET KEEPER

The picture of the product is shown in full size and it occupies a prominent place in the ad.
Even though the recipient acquires knowledge about the advantages of the product from the
textual component, the ad puts the picture in the focus, not the text. Thus, it can be said that
this ad is another case of the ads containing the GRABBING metonymy.
If we consider the emotion of desire as a scenario, then the GRABBING can be thought as
the last stage of this scenario and the consequence of the feeling of desire. Desire has the
inherent action potential that is proposed as the last element of the well-known AIDA formula
(Attention-Interest-Desire-Action), which is not only recommended in practical guidelines for
advertising copy writers, but is also used in the pragmatic interpretation of adverts
(Vestergaard Shroder 1985 in Ungerer, ibid.)
It can be often noticed, as in this example of ad that metaphor and metonymy cooperate to
form one conceptual setup
6
:

Metaphor THE DESIRED OBJECT IS A VALUABLE OBJECT
Motivates Activates
Metonymy GRABBING THE DESIRED OBJECT STANDS FOR DESIRE
Fig. 2. The interaction of metaphors and metonymies in adverts.

Category IV: Example 1) Ads where the textual element is wholly in Swedish.

5
Ungerer ibid.
6
Fig. Taken from Ungerer ibid.
55
Fin under group ad, underwear

This advertisement is mostly pictorial; the text is limited to a heading and small subheadings
containing prices and names of the companies.
The heading says:

Fin underKnslan av att vara fin hela vgen, frn under till ytterklder r oslagbar. Inte
minst till fast!

The heading is built around the domain of feelings:

THE PRODUCTS ARE FEELINGS
THE PRODUCTS ARE COMFORTABLE FEELINGS
THE PRODUCTS ARE SOFT FEELINGS

The second domain is high quality/unbeatability:

THE PRODUCTS ARE UNBEATABLE
THE PRODUCTS ARE WINNERS
The advertisement is dominated by the pictorial representations of the products different
types of underwear. Usually, in group advertisements, the textual element is limited to a short
heading. The rest of the space is occupied by pictures of advertised products. This tendency is
present in magazines for adult women as well as teenage girls.

Category II: Example 1) Ads with a dominant textual element.
Dippa och njut! a recipe

This advertisement is a marginal type of an advertisement and has only a few features of an
advertisement. There are two recepies; one of them contains a name of a food product Arla
cheese. Underneath, there is a website of the Arla company, where the reader can find more
recepies. Above the two recepies there is a heading containing a metaphor:

smaskig kvll THE EVENING IS TASTY
IS A SENSATION

56
The domain of taste is mapped onto the domain of evening/time of day. The recepies lead to
tasty dishes and, therefore, to a tasty evening.
The mapping of experience gained from the five senses onto other domains is very popular
nowadays in advertising. Very similar cases are discussed in the previous chapter, for the
magazine J-14.

Category V: Example 1) Ads of international brands wholly in Swedish.
Vinn mousse & vax ad for Taft hair products

This example also belongs to marginal cases of ads. The purpose of this ad is to show the
prize in a contest. However, there are two features of a regular ad in this example. Firstly,
there is a miniature picture of the products. Secondly, the text advertises the advantages of the
products:

Bde vaxet och moussen ger ditt hr en glnsade och silkig effect.

HAIR IS A POLISHED OBJECT
HAIR IS SILK
THE EFFECT IS A SENSATION

It seems that the features of advertisements are flexible enough to interweave into other
genres of communication be it recepies or inviting to take part in a contest. The advertisers
take every opportunity to present their products. The methods for advertising become more
and more soft and invisible to the reader. Even though the language and attitude towards
different target-groups may vary, the methods are, in general, identical or almost identical.






57



2.8 Metaphors in the English edition of J-14

Category III: Example 1) Ads having more than one pictorial element.
Smackers lip gloss

The advertisement uses very little text. The text is evenly distributed on both pages of the ad.
On the left page the recipient reads:

Be an Original. Start your own collection. Add flavor to everything. Never settle for
imitation.

In this minimal textual component, from the linguistic point of view, there is a high level of
informativity about the product as well as the type of consumer this ad targets. The four
sentences contain metaphors, which can be regarded as the source of the
information/informativity:

Be an original. BEING ORIGINAL IS UP
Metaphor relating to the attitude of a consumer

Start your own collection. BUYING IS COLLECTING
Metaphor relating to the product

Add flavor to everything. BUYING IS ADDING FLAVOR TO EVERYTHING
ADDING FLAVOR IS UP
Metaphors relating to the product

Never settle for imitation. IMITATION IS DOWN
ORIGINALITY IS UP
SETTLING FOR IMITATION IS DOWN
Metaphors relating to the attitude of the consumer

58
Metaphor, in general, is a rich source of compressed knowledge, which the reader/recipient
must decode. This ad is no exception. Even though the reader is given very little text at first
glance, there are at least seven metaphors on one page, which can be elaborated and
decompressed for more detailed information.
What is more, the type of language used in ads directed at women and girls in particular is by
no means random. The way people address each other is culturally and socially important:

The way people speak and write is important, both socially and educationally. It effects how they are
perceived and evaluated. It is through language, particularly spoken language, that relationships with
others are negotiated. In talking in a certain way a speaker is saying something about the kind of person
they are, as well as their perceptions of the listener and the task in hand. The accumulation of individual
acts of speaking also contributes to longer-term relationships between groups of people, to how girls
and boys and women and men habitually relate.
7


The assumptions made by Swann
8
, regarding the impact the spoken language has on the
relationships and perception of women and girls in society can also be very well applied to
advertisements in magazines. Each one of the discussed ads in girls magazines include some
kind of textual component. This component describes the reality (of the targeted reader) in a
very specific way. Looking only at the metaphors from the Smackers example, the important
parts of such a reality would be:

Being original
Avoiding any kind of imitation
Adding flavour to life
Collecting fashionable accessories (cosmetics)

Category I: Example 1) Ads with a dominant pictorial element.
LOT 29 Juniors clothes company

This advertisement resembles very much the ones found in magazines for adult women. It
consists of a dominant pictorial element and an almost non-existent textual element. The
reason for the lack of textual information in this case can be of different sorts.

7
Swann Girls boys and language (1992) Blackwell Publishers, UK
8
ibid.
59
Firstly, the advertiser decided to use a pictorial metaphor instead of a textual one. She/he
introduces a large pictorial element in the centre of the page. The picture covers nearly the
whole page. In addition, the picture shows a very attractive girl in fashionable clothes. Thus,
the pictorial metaphor can look in the following way:

The product is prominent AN IMPORTANT PRODUCT IS A PROMINENT
IMAGE/PICTURE

The girl looks attractive in the advertised clothes AN ATTRACTIVE PRODUCT IS AN
ATTRACTIVE GIRL, A BEAUTIFUL PRODUCT IS A BEAUTIFUL GIRL

The tendency to replace a textual metaphor with a pictorial one is widespread in magazines
for adults. It also makes an attempt to invade teenage magazines. Since the components of
the textual message became worn out and overused, the advertisers decide that it is the picture
that will have to be the medium of communication.

Metaphor is not the only tool used in this, and other, advertisements. Metonymy is also
present. Since the text is too small to be searched for metonymies, one should look again at
the picture. If we assume that there exist pictorial metonymies and that they can be
understood as one of the steps in the scenario of the feeling of desire, then we can state that
this ad contains a GRABBING metonymy:

most radical option is to concede that often the GRABBING metonymy is not explicitly expressed at
all, neither linguistically nor visually, but that it is to be regarded as an underlying, but nevertheless
essential, conceptual component of the advert the missing conceptual link that explains why the
picture of a chocolate may be sufficient to evoke the desire and even stimulate the action that leads to
its acquisition and consumption.
9


Category IV: Example 1) Ads for many different products presented in a group (for example
accessories).
Stuff we love, Valentines Day group advertisement


9
Ungerer Muted metaphors and the activation of metonymies in advertising in Barcelona Metaphor and
metonymy at the crossroads : a cognitive perspective (2003).

60
The advertisement is built of many small advertisements put side by side. All of the products
are accompanied by small textual descriptions. Nearly all of them contain metaphors:

1) power pouch PINK IS DELICIOUS (Deliciously pink)
TASTE IS COLOUR

2) a hearty test SLEEPING IS SOFT (for an ultra-soft sleep)
SLEEPING IS A SOFT SENSATION
SLEEPING IS TOUCHING
SLEEPING IS EXPERIENCING

3) girlie glasses SHADES ARE FLIRTY (Wear these flirty shades)
INANIMATE IS ANIMATE

4) manicure your lovelife the nail polish is fiery-red (colour)
Red is the colour of love
APPLYING THE PRODUCT IS FEELING LOVE
FEELING IS A COLOUR LOVE IS RED

All of the examples of metaphors from this ad are based on some kind of sensation: seeing
colours, touching a soft texture, etc. The experience one gets from the five senses are basic,
but the advertiser uses them to describe more complicated notions. Sometimes the sensations
are mixed together to form a more interesting message. This phenomenon is reflected in the
metaphors:

COLOUR IS TASTE
SLEEPING IS A SOFT TEXTURE
AN INANIMATE OBJECT IS A HUMAN BEING
A COLOUR IS A FEELING

Category II: Example 2) Ads with a dominant textual element.
Proactiv Solution anti-acne cosmetics.

The advertisement consists of three parts, first of which is the heading:
61

Can Proactiv Solution work for your acne? Take this quiz and find out.


The heading contains one metaphor:

THE PRODUCT IS A HELPER
LIVING BEING


The metaphor of the product as a helper is very frequent in the solution advertisements. It is
utilised in order to give authority to the company and the product itself. If the customer
cannot deal with the problem herself, she can count on the help of the product.
It can be argued that teenage readers are especially targeted with this category of ads. They
are thought of as not mature enough to make correct judgments themselves, so the
advertisers advise the young readers about the best options.

Category VI: Example 2) Ads for health organisations.
abovetheinfluence.com health organisation

The advertisements for health organisations are quite rare in magazines. However, they
constitute a very interesting phenomenon from the point of metaphorical use of language.
This ad contains a significant textual component, even though, visually, it takes very little
space. The whole idea of the text is based on the metaphors:

INFLUENCE IS PULLING
PULLING IS DOWN

This metaphor is supported by a pictorial representation of the same concept. It reinforces the
message of the text. The picture represents a girl, whose arms are unbelievably long and
stretched.
The ad is targeted at young people who are prone to bad influence of peer pressure, especially
to taking drugs. Thus, the metaphor of pulling as bad influence of drugs represents the results
which can take place if one succumbs to that influence. Rejecting the bad pull means staying
away from drugs.

Category VI: Example1) Ads for health organisations.
62
VERB health organisation.

This advertisement takes the opposite stance, comparing with the abovetheinfluence.com ad.
This time the ad shows all the positive sides of keeping with the rules advocated by VERB
instead of consequences of not doing so. The symbol of the VERB organisation
Yellowball, is mentioned in every sentence of the textual element of the ad. The text consists
of single sentences, each of which is based on metaphor, for example:

With Yellowball anything is possible. THE SYMBOL GIVES INFINITE
POSSIBILITIES

Yellowball makes me move. THE SYMBOL IS A PROPELLING MACHINE
THE SYMBOL IS A TRIGGER FOR MOVEMENT
Yellowball is a game that doesnt end. THE SYMBOL IS A NEVERENDING
GAME

These examples use the method of replacement. The symbol of Yellowball is put in the
sentences, where otherwise, one would find a different word. This way, we get sometimes
very interesting metaphors. By replacing the words in each sentence by Yellowball, the
advertiser shows the reader, that this organisation and its principles are present in every
moment of ones life while playing, spending time with friends, resting, playing sports, etc.
The Yellowball symbol is present in all the shown activities. There is also a large heading,
which takes up the topic of activities and movement in general:

How will Yellowball move you? Soak up the fun. Go play. Verbnow.com.









63
Final remarks

Metaphors are an interesting phenomenon, which forms a varied group. The examples studied
prove, that advertisements containing metaphors can be categorised depending on many
factors, such as the interaction of the textual and the visual elements and their contribution in
forming a metaphor together or separately; offering a particular view of reality.
The view of reality, as well as the scope of metaphors, presented to the targeted groups of
adult women and teenage girls differs considerably. Some of the differences are based in the
attitude towards the reader and the expectations the reader has. The advertisers fit the
language in general and the metaphors in particular to the targeted reader. Therefore, when
looking at examples of advertisements, one finds several major contrasts between the
approaches towards each targeted group of readers:

The advertisements for teenage readers use a more direct type of language. The
scope of metaphors is also narrowed to a limited group of domains, such as: fun,
happiness, friendship, trendiness, and secrets. I would argue that the simplification of
both language in general and the metaphor is an attempt at customizing the textual
component in an ad to the assumed age and life experience of the young reader.

The main focus of the metaphorical meanings in ads in the teenage magazines is
friendship and fun, whereas, for example, in the adult magazine ELLE it is pleasure
and effectivity. This difference can also be due to customizing the language to the
age and life experience of the reader.

The advertisements in teenage magazines are, in general, equipped with more text than
the ones in adult magazines. Cases of pictorial ads, which are abundant in ELLE,
are almost non-existent in J-14 and Julia.

The cooperation between text and picture in the teenage magazines is based more on
complementarity than on loose connotations between both. In the ads for teenage
readers, text and picture work together to form one complete meaning; in adult
magazines this cooperation is more loose and enables more freedom of interpretation
64
for the reader. Usually, the picture has the function of a filler of space and does not
contribute any specific meaning to the ad as a whole.

There are also major differences on the cultural level, as far as the English and Swedish
editions of the magazines are concerned.
The view of reality in the advertisements of the British edition of ELLE differs from the one
in the Swedish edition); exaggeration in the textual element as reinforcement; personification
(THE PRODUCT IS A PERSON WITH HUMAN CAPABILITIES); emotional branding
(PRODUCT IS PLEASURE); highlighting of particular components of source domains (in
the Swedish ads the components connected with functionality, in the English pleasure on
the emotional and physical level). In addition, advertisers utilize metonymy (PART FOR THE
WHOLE) in the textual element.

The advertisements in the English edition of ELLE are comparable with the ones in the
Swedish one. However, there are a few characteristic features which distinguish the ads in the
English edition:

- the ads with the dominating visual element (visual ads) are in majority
- the information about the product (including the metaphors) focus more on the effect
than on the functions
- the group of beautifying products (also perfume) is presented through the concept of
pleasure (emotional and physical)
- ads with the longest textual elements belong to the category of informative ads; they
are usually found in cases where the product has a complicated formula or there is a
set of products, and the application involves a few steps. The best example of this
category is an advertisement of a hair-dye.

On the other hand, in the Swedish advertisements:

- the reader is, first of all, informed about the functions of the product and then about
the pleasure the product might give. Sometimes the pleasure element is omitted and
effectiveness is elaborated on instead (Himmelska fransar I ett gonblick.)
- the level of informativeness of the Swedish ads is higher than the English ones
- some advertisements belonging to the category of visual ads fail to get their message
65
across, because of minimal textual message (only the logo). Such advertisements can
be called unclear ads (see examples Face Stockholm and Olle & Marie)
- other linguistic devices, such as metonymy and personification can also be found in
the Swedish ads

Regarding the teenage magazines from both the Swedish and the English editions, the
differences based on the cultural level are not as visible as in the case of the adult magazine
ELLE. Both J-14 and Julia operate within the same group of source domains and the
metaphors utilized in both magazines are practically identical. It is possible that a certain
pattern for writing in teenage magazines is followed and that the similarity between them is
deliberate. This would mean that the customization of language in ads for teenage readers is
followed above the level of cultural differences and that they are treated as an international
target-group.

In sum, the magazines for the two target-groups present a great variety of advertisements in
which metaphors play an important part. Many textual elements of ads are built upon
metaphors (PRODUCT IS A HUMAN WITH CAPABILITIES) like on scaffoldings; the
metaphors used are based on common human experience. Therefore, I agree with Lakoff and
Johnson, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and
action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is
fundamentally metaphorical in nature.













66
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